Stories for June 2011

Two French food giants are locked in a battle to take over Brazil's number one retailer, Grupo Pao de Acucar. Proposals to merge Pao de Acucar with the local operations of Carrefour are opposed by rival Casino, which already has a stake in the Brazilian group.

Home to pristine forests and the indigenous Mapuche people, Chile’s Araucanía Region is rich with tourism potential. However, according to the government, the area needs a facelift in order to capitalize on its resources.

Evidence strongly suggests UN peacekeepers from Nepal were the source of a cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed more than 5,500 people, said a new report by the US Centres for Disease Control Prevention.

Teachers and civil servants marched through the streets and picketed government buildings across Britain today in protest at planned pension reforms, launching what could be a long period of labour unrest over austerity measures.

France’s Casino Guichard-Perrachon Colombian retailing branch, Exito announced the signing of a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of Casino' majority stakes in Uruguay’s main supermarket chain Disco and Devoto in an operation involving 746 million US dollars.

Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile is exporting rams to Peru to help improve the meat and wool conditions of the flock of that country. The first batch of ten rams was dispatched by the Teheul Aike rural society, via Santiago and has already reached their destination in Puno.

Brazil’s proposal to Mercosur members of a coordinated tariffs’ package with the purpose of containing unexpected imports surges, particularly of cheap products, from Europe, Asia and the United States is to be implemented in the second half of the year.

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica called on Sao Paulo corporations to cooperate with the development of Mercosur partners by adopting a policy of alliances with local companies and leaving aside ‘colonizing’ temptations.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said it was urgent for Mercosur/European Union trade negotiations to conclude although also emphasizing the need to promote and intensive South/South relations, but warning that some outer region countries are intent in “sending us what they can’t sell in developed countries”.